Intellectual property rights for researchers - Savoring your fruits

As we dive deeper into the pools of research and work hard to have tangible outputs of our research efforts, it might not be easy to savor the fruits until and unless we are trained judiciously to safeguard these with a sound understanding of intellectual property (“IP”) and the associated rights called IP rights (IPRs), which refers to creative expressions, ideas, inventions, and other mind creations such as designs, images, literary works, art pieces, and so on used for commercial benefits. IPR provides some exclusive rights to the creators of such content by providing protection through copyrights, patents, trademarks, etc., Such protective rights allow people to earn financial gains and attain reputation for their work. The IP ecosystem does create an environment in which creativity gets perfectly balanced with commerce, aiding economic boost of a nation by supporting healthy competition and promoting industrial development. While Europe during the 14th century was where the concept of IPR started, other countries realized it’s importance and followed suit. Inaugural Patent Act in India itself is more than 160 years old (1856 act). However, numerous acts and amendments have followed since then from time to time so much so that many industries today have their own customized IPR policies. IP protection encompasses a bouquet of such governing mechanisms for a plethora of intellectual efforts such as: Patents: An exclusive right granted for an invention enabling the owner to decide about its future use by others Copyright: A legal right bestowed upon the creator over their artistic and literary creations such as books, music and cinematography. Trademarks: It is an identifiable sign/mark/logo, etc., which distinguishes one enterprise or service provider from those of other. Trademarks can be licenced, bought or sold Industrial designs: It relates to features incorporated into a shape, configuration or surface characteristic whether in two-dimension or three-dimension Geographical indicators: Indications about the place of origin of a good ensures that it possess qualities and features uniquely attributable to that particular geographical distribution. As per the Indian Patent Act 1970, life of a patent varies from 7 to 14 years from the date of filing, depending upon the item. India being a signatory to the Berne Convention, 1886 ensures that a copyright generated in one member nation is honored in all the member nations. IPR can be transferred, sold or gifted but any unauthorized use is considered as an unfair practice and a serious breach of the trade secret protection. Industries however have realized that mere trade secrets were not enough to guard a specific technology and more strong systems of IPR were needed to meet this challenge, especially in light of agreements such as the World Trade Organization, which has brought the concept of “licensing” and “compulsory licensing” into focus. Essentially, license is a contract between a licensor and licensee enabling the later to use a know-how which otherwise would be prohibited by the former. This is useful for the licensor to tap new markets and areas for more revenue at much lower expenses and the licensee is ensured of latest products which are accessible far more quickly and with huge savings on R and D. All activities related to Patent Cooperation Treaty (“1978”) are governed by World IP Organization (“WIPO”) located in Geneva. On one hand, it has eased the processes of multinational business amongst member countries; on the other hand, it also runs seminars and training modules for researchers, legal eagles and innovators to grasp the latest developments in international IP services practically in the real time. The WIPO Academy is also playing a great role in capacity building and incorporating necessary skills sets among stakeholders regarding IP education. In today’s world IP and IPR can no longer be driven only with a national perspective visible in the rear-view mirror. Willy-Nilly it has to be governed in accordance with an international umbrella and a fast-changing global scenario of multinational treaties and practices coupled with ever evolving market needs, market responses and commercial aspects. “One shoe cannot fit all” therefore customized and individualized IP strategies for different domains is the need of the hour; notwithstanding the fact that more robust anti-trust and competition laws are needed to be tabled sooner than later to make Indian trade and commerce entities fully compliant with our current and future IPR regime.